New now reading

in reality, all of this has been a total load of old bollocks
User avatar
Snarfyguy
Dominated by the Obscure
Posts: 53502
Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 19:04
Location: New York

Re: New now reading

Postby Snarfyguy » 03 Feb 2019, 19:33

^^^ It's not short!

EDIT: That supposed to address Jimbo's post on the Barth novel, which is probably on the last page.
Last edited by Snarfyguy on 05 Feb 2019, 01:55, edited 1 time in total.
GoogaMooga wrote: The further away from home you go, the greater the risk of getting stuck there.

User avatar
mentalist (slight return)
under mi sensi
Posts: 14575
Joined: 17 Jul 2003, 10:54
Location: Sydney
Contact:

Re: New now reading

Postby mentalist (slight return) » 03 Feb 2019, 21:23

Jock wrote:
Still Baron wrote:James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom lacks the majesty and sweep of Foote’s books, but if you don’t want to read three books ... you could do much worse.

There are others creeping around here who are far more learned in this stuff, so if they say there’s a better option, I defer to them.

Cheers

Foote's is a big assed narrative. He was essentially a novelist when he took up the task of writing those books, and has been called the American Homer. McPherson's Battle Cry Of Freedom is a narrative allied with an historical analysis of the events and causes and themes etc. written by an historian and accomplished writer. You may get more understanding of the civil war reading BCOF, whereas with Foote you get the pleasure of immersing yourself in a great story. Depends what you're looking for. Both great.
king of the divan

User avatar
Darkness_Fish
Posts: 7793
Joined: 27 Jul 2015, 09:58

Re: New now reading

Postby Darkness_Fish » 04 Feb 2019, 09:21

Image
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

User avatar
Jock
Posts: 9476
Joined: 31 Dec 2005, 10:59
Location: Guid aul' Killie

Re: New now reading

Postby Jock » 05 Feb 2019, 20:29

mentalist (slight return) wrote:
Jock wrote:
Still Baron wrote:James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom lacks the majesty and sweep of Foote’s books, but if you don’t want to read three books ... you could do much worse.

There are others creeping around here who are far more learned in this stuff, so if they say there’s a better option, I defer to them.

Cheers

Foote's is a big assed narrative. He was essentially a novelist when he took up the task of writing those books, and has been called the American Homer. McPherson's Battle Cry Of Freedom is a narrative allied with an historical analysis of the events and causes and themes etc. written by an historian and accomplished writer. You may get more understanding of the civil war reading BCOF, whereas with Foote you get the pleasure of immersing yourself in a great story. Depends what you're looking for. Both great.

Cheers
Always Cheated Never Defeated

User avatar
Minnie the Minx
funky thigh collector
Posts: 33546
Joined: 29 Dec 2006, 16:00
Location: In the naughty North and in the sexy South

Re: New now reading

Postby Minnie the Minx » 09 Feb 2019, 13:40

I started reading Portnoy’s Complaint last night. What a book. I’ve used up a months worth of laughter in a couple of hours!
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.

Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?


Flower wrote:I just did a google search.

User avatar
The Fish
Beer Battered
Posts: 13063
Joined: 24 Oct 2003, 20:04
Location: Sunny?Worthing

Re: New now reading

Postby The Fish » 10 Feb 2019, 10:56

Minnie the Minx wrote:I started reading Portnoy’s Complaint last night. What a book. I’ve used up a months worth of laughter in a couple of hours!


"I fucked my own family's dinner"
We're way past rhubarb

User avatar
Minnie the Minx
funky thigh collector
Posts: 33546
Joined: 29 Dec 2006, 16:00
Location: In the naughty North and in the sexy South

Re: New now reading

Postby Minnie the Minx » 10 Feb 2019, 16:45

The Fish wrote:
Minnie the Minx wrote:I started reading Portnoy’s Complaint last night. What a book. I’ve used up a months worth of laughter in a couple of hours!


"I fucked my own family's dinner"



Yes! Oh god. The apple core.
Superb.
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.

Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?


Flower wrote:I just did a google search.

`
Posts: 2390
Joined: 25 Aug 2016, 17:12

Re: New now reading

Postby ` » 10 Feb 2019, 17:44

Surely a milk bottle and two slices of liver...

Jimbo
Dribbling idiot airhead
Posts: 19645
Joined: 26 Dec 2009, 21:22

Re: New now reading

Postby Jimbo » 12 Feb 2019, 13:45

Image

Up next. Apparently it's a prequel to the Harry Flashman story. The reviews look pretty good so I'll give it a shot.
Question authority.

User avatar
Minnie the Minx
funky thigh collector
Posts: 33546
Joined: 29 Dec 2006, 16:00
Location: In the naughty North and in the sexy South

Re: New now reading

Postby Minnie the Minx » 14 Feb 2019, 17:18

After finishing Portnoy’s Complaint last night I am vowing to take heed when I’m told that a book is ‘essential reading’- what an extraordinary work. Fabulous. I’ll never look at liver in the same way.
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.

Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?


Flower wrote:I just did a google search.

User avatar
Diamond Dog
"Self Quoter" Extraordinaire.
Posts: 69577
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 21:04
Location: High On Poachers Hill

Re: New now reading

Postby Diamond Dog » 18 Feb 2019, 13:54

Image

An extremely detailed account of how the major players oversaw the end of the Cold War - and how and why it happened. Great read so far.
Nicotine, valium, vicadin, marijuana, ecstasy, and alcohol -
Cocaine

User avatar
Diamond Dog
"Self Quoter" Extraordinaire.
Posts: 69577
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 21:04
Location: High On Poachers Hill

Re: New now reading

Postby Diamond Dog » 18 Feb 2019, 14:00

I have just finished this :

Image

"Together Alone - The Story Of The Finn Brothers" by Jeff Apter.

A strange book - there are a lot of really interesting revelations here (especially around the individual relationships between the two brothers (especially) but also the guys in the bands etc) but there are parts which just seem very rushed.

If you're a fan of the Finn's/Crowded House/Split Enz, you'll probably enjoy it (in parts). And it's possibly a good intro for the curious out there too.
Nicotine, valium, vicadin, marijuana, ecstasy, and alcohol -
Cocaine

User avatar
Snarfyguy
Dominated by the Obscure
Posts: 53502
Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 19:04
Location: New York

Re: New now reading

Postby Snarfyguy » 22 Feb 2019, 08:15

Image

Superb. It's always reassuring to recognize that you're in the hands of a master.

Next up: selected early works.

Image
GoogaMooga wrote: The further away from home you go, the greater the risk of getting stuck there.

User avatar
Darkness_Fish
Posts: 7793
Joined: 27 Jul 2015, 09:58

Re: New now reading

Postby Darkness_Fish » 22 Feb 2019, 09:07

Image
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

User avatar
Minnie the Minx
funky thigh collector
Posts: 33546
Joined: 29 Dec 2006, 16:00
Location: In the naughty North and in the sexy South

Re: New now reading

Postby Minnie the Minx » 22 Feb 2019, 14:41

I’m halfway through The Gallows Pole by Ben Myers, another extraordinary book that I would recommend
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.

Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?


Flower wrote:I just did a google search.

User avatar
northernsky
Posts: 2338
Joined: 08 Aug 2005, 10:18
Location: East of Sweden

Re: New now reading

Postby northernsky » 22 Feb 2019, 15:28

Now We Shall Be Entirely Free, by Andrew Miller.

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/now-we-shall-be-entirely-free-by-andrew-miller-inescapably-great-storytelling-1.3599575%3fmode=amp

a) I loved it
b) While reading it, I kept getting flashbacks to The North Water and The Prophets of Eternal Fjord, both of which I've bigged up here, and both of which are superior to this. But, well worth anyone's time.

Jimbo
Dribbling idiot airhead
Posts: 19645
Joined: 26 Dec 2009, 21:22

Re: New now reading

Postby Jimbo » 23 Feb 2019, 14:43

Image

The first Flashman do-over was so good I had to try the second in the series. Like the original Flashman the author inserts the character into actual historical events. The first one teamed Flashman up with navy commodore Thomas Cochrane supposedly the real life Lucky Jack Aubrey on his ship HMS Speedy in the Napoleonic war. This one takes our hero to India, during the second Mahratta war.
Question authority.

User avatar
Fonz
Posts: 4088
Joined: 17 Feb 2014, 14:10
Location: Nevermore

Re: New now reading

Postby Fonz » 23 Feb 2019, 17:43

Darkness_Fish wrote:Image



Very good. Evokes St Malo well. If you’ve been you know how cool that place is.
Heyyyy!

"Fonz clearly has no fucks to give. I like the cut of his Cupicidal gib."

User avatar
Darkness_Fish
Posts: 7793
Joined: 27 Jul 2015, 09:58

Re: New now reading

Postby Darkness_Fish » 28 Feb 2019, 13:38

^ Sure was an excellent book. I'm not convinced the timeline shifts were really necessary, it could've been told in a more linear way, but it's a beautifully written thing. Never been to St Malo, but I'd love to see it now.

Anyway, now onto:

Image
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

User avatar
harvey k-tel
Long Player
Posts: 40893
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 23:20
Location: 1220 on your AM dial

Re: New now reading

Postby harvey k-tel » 28 Feb 2019, 14:01

Fonz wrote:
Darkness_Fish wrote:Image



Very good. Evokes St Malo well. If you’ve been you know how cool that place is.


I read that one a few weeks ago, too, and yeah, I'd like to see St. Malo (although ideally before it had been bombed and shelled to bits).

Now onto:

Image
Tempora mutatur et nos mutamur in illis


Return to “Nextdoorland”